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Revelation 11 PART 1 ((REV 11:1-19 Revelation 11 PART 1 ((REV 11:1-19)) I. Preliminary Considerations 1. This chapter is primarily concerned with a temple (on earth = 1, 2, in heaven = 19) and a city (2-3, 8, 13). 2. The destruction of the temple (on earth) and the city indicates the avenging of God’s people through judgment upon their enemies (v16). 3. The temple (on earth) is the Jewish temple (v1 – “the temple of God” contrasted w/ v19-“God’s temple in heaven”). 4. The city is Jerusalem (v2-“the holy city”; v8-“the great city…where their Lord was crucified”; Neh 11:1; Isa 52:1; Mat 4:5, 27:53). 5. The Jewish temple and the city of Jerusalem depicted in chapter 11 are those existing during the first century (pre- 70AD)—and not some time thousands of years later (Disp: a future temple in Jerusalem): -First century Jerusalem was considered a “great” (v8) or famous city in part because of Herod’s Temple. “Jerusalem housed a temple famous beyond all other works of men…” –Tacitus “[Jerusalem was] by far the most famous city of the Orient.” --Pliny “…a city…of great magnificence and of mighty fame among all mankind” –Josephus -A post-70AD destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem would be almost nonsensical to its original audience (and should be to us as well) with no prior mention of its 70AD destruction. “Is it not strange that this cataclysmic event [the 70AD destruction of the city and temple]was never once mentioned or apparently hinted at in the books of the New Testament, particularly Revelation?” --A.T. Robinson “Where is there any reference to the rebuilding of the Temple in Revelation so that it could again be destroyed (as per the dispensationalist argument)?” –C.D.F. Moule “If there is no reference to a rebuilding of the Temple and the book was written about A.D. 95, how could the readers make sense of its prophecies? It is inconceivable that a book of the nature of Revelation could fail to mention its already having been destroyed…” –Kenneth Gentry -Dispensational theology’s future temple ends up being two temples, massive confusion and a whole lot of eisegesis! “Apparently…the Temple will be rebuilt [in the future].” –Charles Ryrie For the Dispensationalist’s system to work—you have to have two temples being rebuilt in the future not just one—since this one exists and is destroyed during the period of time they indentify as the “Tribulation”. And they also expect there to be a Temple at the time of Christ’s return and thousand year reign on earth. In summary (then) this means two rebuilt Temples with at least one being destroyed during the “Tribulation”. The problem is –what is “apparent” to them is not to text of Revelation! It is pure eisigesis to make their system work since NEVER is a temple being re-built ever mentioned in the text (much less two of them)! 6. The city and temple destroyed in verses 1-14 are prophetic of Titus’ destruction of both over the course of 3 ½ years (42 mos.) during the Jewish War (v2). 7. The seventh trumpet immediately following in verses 15-19 therefore formally announces the finalization of God’s divorce from Israel and the transfer of the kingdom from them to Christ and His church where it will remain forever (v15). CHAPTER 11 REPRESENTS THE FINALIZATION OF GOD’S JUDGMENT AGAINST/DIVORCE FROM ISRAEL (THROUGH THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE)AND THE TRANSFER OF THE KINGDOM TO CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH FOREVER WHO ARE THE TRUE HOUSE OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. (Isa 50:1; Jer 3:1-8 w/ Mat 21:43, 22:7, 23:32-24:1) (Jer 31:31-34 w/ Heb 8, 10:14-18) (Eze 39:25-29; Joe 2:28-32 w/ Act 2:17-21) (Jos 1:5 w/ Heb 13:5) (Lev 26:21; Exo 29:45; Jer 31:33; Eze 11:20; Isa 52:11; Eze 20:34, 41; Zep 3:20; Exo 4:22; 2Sa 7:8, 14; Isa 43:6; Jer 31:9; Hos 1:10 w/ 2Co 6:16-7:1) (Mat 5:17; Act 13:32-34, 15:13-18; Rom 2:28, 9:1-6, 25-26 w/11:1-5, 15:7-9; 2Co 1:20; Gal 3:16, 4:26,6:16; Eph 2:11- 3:11; Phi 3:3; Heb 12:22-23; 1Pe 1:1-2; 2Pe 1:4; Rev 21:2, 9-10). “In the first century the temple’s final destruction accomplishes God’s conclusive divorce of Israel. In His New Testament divorce action God so dis-establishes her that redemptive history is no longer the story of a Jewish-focused, Israel-exalting, geo-political work as in the Old Testament. God’s work now reaches out to ‘all nations’ whom will marry in Christ.” –Kenneth Gentry II. Contextual Interpretation “The proper understanding of [Revelation 11] requires that we recognize a mixture of the figurative and the literal, the symbolic and the historical. This is true in virtually every interpretive approach to [Revelation 11], even the attempted alleged literalistic hermeneutic of dispensationalism…This [however] should not surprise us in a book such as Revelation. Such a mixture of figurative and literal is neither unprecedented nor uncommon in Scripture (ex. 2Ki 21:12, 13; Amo 7:8-9; Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8; Joh 6:48-51; Heb 8:5; Rev 11:8)…” --Kenneth Gentry (1-2) “measure the temple of God and the altar”= refers to preservation of those who now represent the Holy Place in the Temple—including the Holy of Holies (the dwelling place of God) and her priests (“those who worship there”) ---the Jerusalem Church (the “true Jews-Rom 2:28). History tells us they were spared the coming devastation by taking flight to Pella. (Zec 2:1-5; Eze 40-42-measuring was a sign of preservation; Rev 1:6, 5:10, 20:6; 1Pe 2:9; Heb 10:19, 13:10; Rev 7:1-8); “do not measure the court outside the temple, leave that out (lit. “excommunicate/throw/cast out”—see Mar 1:34, 39, 3:15, 6:13; Mat 21:12; Joh 2:15 9:22, 34; Mat 8:11-12), for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the city”= refers to the destruction of city of Jerusalem and Herod’s Temple which is now no better than its “outside courts” (the place of the unclean) since those who inhabit it are unclean/unbelieving Jews (Luk 21:21-24); “forty –two months” =These verses span the whole of the Jewish War as a form of “summary unto culmination/conclusion” with the focus on that which is the focus of God’s judgment: Jerusalem and the Temple. “…to measure expresses the thought of preservation, not destruction.” Philip Carrington “The fact that the court outside the temple was not measured is indicative that it is not under the protection of God.” –Ralph E. Bass “Between the Sixth and Seventh Seals 144,000 saints were set apart for preservation. Now between the Sixth and Seventh Trumpets we again read that God’s people are set apart for preservation.” –Ralph E. Bass For further consideration: These verses as an allusion to Ezekiel’s temple: (chs. 40-46) =partial fulfillment in Zerubbabel’s Temple-Ezr 6; Hag 2:2-3; expanded fulfillment in Herod’s Temple-(see Architecture and Utopia In The Temple Era by Michael Chyutin); (ch. 47) = realized thru Christ and His church both now and in the new heavens on earth (Joh 4:13-14; 7:37-38 w/Joh 1:14, 2:19-21 and Rev 21:22, 22:1-2) “There can be little doubt that the arrangements of Herod’s temple were in a great measure influenced by the description given [in Ezekiel 40-43].” --Merrill Unger Historical support as it relates to the Jerusalem church being spared: Eusebius: "The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella. Here those that believed in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men had entirely abandoned the royal city itself, and the whole land of Judea; the divine justice, for their crimes against Christ and his apostles finally overtook them, totally destroying the whole generation of these evildoers form the earth. (Eusebius, 3:5.) "Now this sect of Nazarenes exists in Beroea in Coele-Syria, and in Decapolis in the district of Pella, and in Kochaba of Basanitis-- called Kohoraba in Hebrew. For thence it originated after the migration from Jerusalem of all the disciples who resided at Pella, Christ having instructed them to leave Jerusalem and retire from it on account of the impending siege. It was owing to this counsel that they went away, as I have said, to reside for a while at Pella" (Haer 29:7). Epiphanius: "For when the city was about to be captured and sacked by the Romans, all the disciples were warned beforehand by an angel to remove from the city, doomed as it was to utter destruction. On migrating from it they settled at Pella, the town already indicated, across the Jordan. It is said to belong to Decapolis " (On Weights and Measures 15). .
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